1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer head of a coating tool for transferring to a target object a correcting paint, a paste or the like which adheres to the surface of a transfer tape by pressing the rear surface of the transfer tape against the target object.
2. Prior Art
A printer head of a conventional coating tool has an elastic tongue made of a resin material, which elastically urges a pressure to a rear surface of the transfer tape, and further has a guide plate formed integral with the elastic tongue and adapted to regulate the lateral oscillations of the transfer tape on both sides thereof at the time of traveling of the transfer tape.
However, the printer head of the conventional coating tool having the above-described structure involves the problem that where the transfer tape travelling on the printer head is of a type having a paste-coated surface, since the transfer tape in its wound state is in the form of a so-called pancake, a very small amount of paste (a paste pool) may adhere to the rear surface of the transfer tape thereby it may easily come in contact with a transfer tape traveling surface of the printer head so that a smooth delivery and take-up operation of the transfer tape is hindered and the correcting paint or paste on the transfer tape can not be securely transferred and coated to the surface of the target object.
Further, the phenomenon that the smooth traveling of the transfer tape is hindered by the adhesion of the paste to the transfer tape traveling surface of the printer head due to the adhesion of a small amount of the paste to the rear surface of the transfer tape causes an excessive tensile force applied on the transfer tape itself so that there is a fear of a stretching of the transfer tape to an excessive degree or even a breakage of the tape.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the printer head of the conventional coating tool. Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a printer head of a coating tool, which is simple in structure and which can securely transfer and coat a correcting paint or paste applied to a transfer tape to the surface of a target object. Another object of the invention is to provide a printer head of a coating tool, which enables smooth delivery and take-up of a transfer tape even in case a small amount of a paint or paste adheres to the rear surface of the transfer tape.
According to an aspect of the invention a printer head of a coating tool, about which a transfer tape in its travel from a tape delivery to a tape take-up mechanism of the coating tool is moved, is provided, said printer head being supported by and projecting from a main body of the coating tool and having an elastic tongue portion forming a top end of the printer head and serving for elastically pressing the rear surface of the transfer tape, wherein at least said elastic tongue portion of the printer head being formed of a resin material having a small coefficient of surface friction. The elastic tongue portion can be integral with the base portion of the printer head or alternatively can be a separate part.
According to another aspect of the invention a printer head of a coating tool, about which a transfer tape in its travel from a tape delivery to a tape take-up mechanism of the coating tool is moved, is provided, said printer head being supported by and projecting from a main body of the coating tool and having an elastic tongue portion forming a top end of the printer head and serving for elastically pressing the rear surface of the transfer tape, wherein at least the top end of said elastic tongue portion of the printer head being covered with a covering material made of a resin material having a small coefficient of surface friction.
According to yet another aspect of the invention a printer head of a coating tool, about which a transfer tape in its travel from tape delivery to a tape take-up mechanism of the coating tool is moved, is provided said printer head being supported by and projecting from a main body of the coating tool and having an elastic tongue portion forming a top end of the printer head and serving for elastically pressing the rear surface of the transfer tape, which includes an elastic tongue portion, wherein said elastic tongue portion of the printer head having a finely corrugated pattern formed on at least one of the surfaces thereof.
In either case, i.e. if the whole or at least the top end of the elastic tongue is made of the above-described resin materials or covered by a resin material, a coefficient of surface friction is substantially reduced thereby to become less than 5, preferably in the order of 1.1 to 4.
With the above-described structure, even when a small amount of paste adhering to the rear surface of the transfer tape tends to adhere to the transfer tape traveling surface of the printer head, since the traveling surface is integrally formed of a resin material having a small coefficient of surface friction or having a finely corrugated pattern, that is, a so called crepe pattern, the transfer tape can be prevented from adhering to the elastic tongue and a smooth traveling of the tape can be secured thereby performing the transfer and coating of the correcting paint or the paste applied on the surface of the transfer tape to the transfer surface of the target object.
Further, by such smooth traveling of the transfer tape, any excessive tensile force which may be generated due to the adhesion of the tape to the printer head is not applied onto the transfer tape itself so that such inconvenience is prevented that an excessive expansion of the transfer tape or even a breakage can occur.